Passports & Dramas

Passports & Dramas

Forget Toddlers & Tiaras, we are experiencing our own reality tv show. Our flight to London is a multi-stage journey, starting with a domestic flight Brisbane to Melbourne, and international flight to Abu Dhabi and then finally a flight to Heathrow Airport.

When we arrive at the Brisbane airport, we hand over our passports to check in & get our boarding passes. Everything goes smoothly for me for a pleasant surprise (unlike my trip to Beijing) but when Colin hands his over, the lady looks mortified. My initial thoughts was because his passport photo is so unbelievably bad, so bad he wont allow me to take a photo so that it can never see the light of day.

Instead it was because there is a giant red mark on it, covering parts of his face and name. Apparently, when he was returning from NZ, the customs lady was marking of the declarations form with a giant red felt pen. When he handed over the form on top of the passport, she simply marked it and the inked seeped through to his already shocking passport page. The lady however accepted it but warned us of potentially future dramas on our trip.

Alcohol in matching jeans.

The plane ride was quite uneventful, but when we landed, we were immediately provide free alcohol samples. This reminded us that Melbourne is, and always will be, trendier than Brisbane. At the security checkpoint, I was ‘randomly’ selected for an explosive and drug test, maintaining my 100% selection rate. On the plus side, Colin’s passport didn’t cause us too much grief getting through. As we made our way to our gate, an elderly gentleman approached us wanting assistance with the most basic of vending machines available, confirming another one of my anomalies.

We did receive a complimentary light dinner on the plane, but not feeling quite satisfied, we got a burger from Hungry Jacks. Feeling fairly full, the first thing we are given on our plain is a menu for the complimentary dinner we will be receiving! The plane however is very luxurious and I was quite impressed. We got a little welcome bag, containing a toothbrush & toothpaste, eye mask, ear plugs, pillow, blanket & more.

Our broken screens.

The only negative is we sat in the only seats on the plane which screen didn’t work, however due to our combined IT knowledge, we managed to fix it by turning it off and on again. I battled to get about 6-7 hours of solid sleep, waking up once per hour very briefly. I hoped that this was enough to get me through the remaining hours of the flight and the final leg to arrive at London.

Our inflight care package.

Upon arriving at Abu Dhabi, we learn that it is currently the month in which no food or drink is consumed during day light hours. Fearing our sacred Maccas might be closed, we quickly sort out confirmation. Despite the warning about enjoying food, everyone here seemed quite content to show down on a quarter pounder so that crisis was adverted.

We are currently waiting outside our gate to board our final plane. We are weary and exhausted but know it is all well and truly worth it to get to our destination.